Colin Powell makes the case: pissing people off is both inevitable and necessary. This doesn’t mean that the goal is pissing people off. Pissing people off doesn’t mean you’re doing the right things, but doing the right things will almost inevitably piss people off.

Understand the difference.

I piss people off on a regular basis. It’s rarely my goal but I honestly don’t care if it happens. This article explains it well.

EVula

100% agreed. I have a public list of insults (and death threats) I’ve gotten while administrating Wikipedia; when you ruin a vandal’s fun, you’re pissing them off. That’s not the goal, but it’s certainly not something one should ever shy away from.

DanielSw

Thanks, Shawn. You didn’t piss me off!

Roy Liu

I agree with Tim’s article. But, I would also suggest people read Penelope Trunk’s take on Tim generally. I think she is also accurate.

JDSoCal

Uh, yeah, was it “doing the right thing,” Gen Powell, when you and your aide Richard Armitage let Scooter Libby take the fall in the Valerie Plame affair?